Global metals business, Liberty House Group, has recruited top international steel executive, Virinder Bahadur Garg, to lead the production and distribution operation at its Liberty Steel Newport (LSN) plant, as the business continues its ambitious growth in the UK.

Mr Garg, 50, who is currently chief of marketing and sales for ArcelorMittal’s flagship Ukrainian plant at Kryviy Rih, will become chief executive of South Wales-based LSN from March 1^st.

The Punjabi-born graduate mechanical engineer, who has an MBA from INSEAD Paris, has an impressive 25-year industry track record which encompasses JSW and TATA steel in India and ArcelorMittal in UAE, Luxembourg and Ukraine. In addition to marketing and sales, Mr Garg is a specialist in supply chain management.

In his most recent appointment he led the marketing and sales divisions for more than three years at the large Kryviy Rih facility, which produces six million tonnes of long products a year, including billets, rebars, wire, rod and merchant bars.

During his time at Kryviy Rih he navigated sales profitably in every quarter, even during the most difficult times for the industry and unrest in Ukraine generally. He delivered significant product development and service improvement which helped the business break into new more demanding and more profitable markets, leading to increased domestic market share and the opening of ArcelorMittal’s own distribution network across Ukraine.

He explained that his first priority at Liberty will be to “focus on increasing LSN’s market share in the UK, growing both organically and by acquisition.”

LSN, which restarted its Newport-based rolling mill in October, is already producing 10,000 tonnes a week of hot rolled coil and Mr Garg said his aim is to increase this to one million tonnes a year within 12-18 months.

Executive chairman of Liberty House, Sanjeev Gupta said: “We have big ambitions for our steel operations in the UK and we are very pleased to have recruited someone of VB’s experience and calibre to lead the business into the next phase of its expansion. Steel is a global business and his direct experience, which encompasses no fewer than 75 countries, will be invaluable to us in building a profitable and sustainable enterprise here.”